Yes, he actually said this. Esquire, like any other media entity, would have thier t's crosse and i's dotted. They definately do not want to get sued as making money is in the buisness plan. Here is a message from the editor.
The quotes attributed to Mr. Kilmer in Mr. Klosterman’s story are absolutely accurate. The interview was recorded and every quote used in the story was checked by our research department to insure that it was printed precisely as spoken.
It should be noted Mr. Kilmer did not dispute the validity of the quotations when the article was first published four years ago, nor did he dispute them when the article was reprinted in Mr. Klosterman’s fourth book, nor did he dispute them when the story appeared in Ira Glass’s anthology The New Kings of Nonfiction.
Sincerely,
David Granger
Editor in Chief
Esquire